Angara clarifies: Data on prices of Covid-19 vaccines came from DOH

MANILA, Philippines— The data showing the estimated costs of Covid-19 vaccines with Sinovac as the second most expensive had been supplied to the Senate by the Department of Health (DOH).

Senator Sonny Angara,  chairman of the Senate committee on finance,  made the clarification on Thursday amid numerous reports, citing his office as the source of the said price tags.

“For the record, those were given by the DOH 2 months ago during budget hearings in response to senators’ questions,”  Angara said in a tweet.

“Prices may (or may not) have changed since then. Don’t shoot the messenger,”  he added.

Below is the data earlier provided to the Senate and later shared to the media by Angara’s office.

The clarification on the data source was also made a day before the resumption of the  Senate’s hearing into the government’s vaccination plan.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri earlier said they might hold an executive session on Friday  to ask officials  to disclose the prices of vaccines  the government  would  buy from other  countries.

“…We’re going to, in an executive session so that they don’t violate their non-disclosure agreement, we will ask them to disclose the prices of the purchase of the vaccines, ‘yung amounts na babayaran [that we will pay], for transparency,” Zubiri said on ABS-CBN News Channel.

READ: ‘For transparency:’ Senators to ask for prices of vaccines being bought by PH

The government has already secured 25  million doses of the Sinovac vaccine doses despite lingering questions about its efficacy and safety.

READ: Senators question vaccine deal with China’s Sinovac sans EUA application

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